


Horseradish before Hibiscus

by EstaJay



Category: The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Blood, Coughing, Gen, Hanahaki Disease, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Linked Universe (Legend of Zelda), angst no comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-12
Updated: 2020-03-12
Packaged: 2021-03-01 01:53:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,101
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23117269
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EstaJay/pseuds/EstaJay
Summary: When Link coughs he smiles weakly and says he's always been a sickly child.He's learned to hide the little white petals - coated in saliva, speckled in blood.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 136





	Horseradish before Hibiscus

**Author's Note:**

> It's Warriors week and I should be working on my fic for our favourite pretty boi but the muse known as our lovely Kitsune struck and my impulsive brain wrote this.

When Link coughs he smiles weakly and says he's always been a sickly child. 

He's learned to hide the little white petals - coated in saliva, speckled in blood. 

Link has never loved before, not romantically anyway. He has never pined for someone from afar, never had his affections unrequited, never let his feelings go unresolved and yet his birthing cries were littered with tiny white buds that flew out of his newborn mouth and they had never stopped since. 

Every healer, doctor and medical practitioner he sees are utterly baffled by his affliction. Flower-spitting, or as the Sheikah called it "hanahaki", always came after heartbreak - never before. A priest once offered a flimsy explanation: that Link had an old soul whose heartbreak transcended life and death, before forcing him through many futile, and fucking expensive, purification rituals. 

Link thinks that's utter bullshit. 

He can't have hanahaki.

He's never loved before.

It has to be something else.

Then he washes ashore at Koholint and he meets the girl of his dreams. Hair as red as fire, a laugh that chimes like church bells and a smile more radiant than the sun. Link is in love.

Koholint is not without it's trials and tribulations but with Marin there it all seems like an afterthought. He had never believed in the power of love before but with his heart so full it feels like every breath comes with a second wind. He's saved Hyrule, Labrynna and Holodrum, he's defeated the demon king twice over, he's a hero already known as the Legend. It fills him not with arrogance but with the earned confidence that he can free Koholint from the nightmares that plagues it. 

Then, he'll tell Marin that he loves her. He can't find a ring on this tiny island but he'll craft one out of her favourite flower and propose. He can show her the world that she yearns to see. They'll travel the world from shore to shore and sea to sea - he'll give her the adventure that her heart desires. Then they will return home to Koholint, wanderlust sated and a life of peace and happiness together awaiting them. 

He just needs to complete his quest and wake the Windfish. 

He is so filled with joy that he never notices that not once since arriving on the island has he coughed. 

Link wakes the Windfish with Marin, the girl of his dreams, on his mind. 

Link awakes - adrift at sea with Marin being a girl only of his dreams. 

He coughs. 

He coughs and he coughs and he coughs. 

It feels like his broken heart is trying to make its way out of his chest. 

Blood splatters the driftwood with little petals completely coated red - and a full formed hibiscus. 

The waves crash. 

A seagull screeches overhead.

Link coughs. 

More petals and another flower. 

His throat is raw and his stomach aches and every breath of salty sea air burns - but it's nothing compared to the pain in his heart dragging him into a bottomless abyss. 

So this is heartbreak.

* * *

Link lives but he isn't truly living. 

He is known as the Legend but that means nothing to him. 

When he sees those in need, his spirit refuses to turn a blind eye. He saves Hytopia, Lorule and Hyrule once again but it feels like he's going through the motions. 

It feels like a dream. 

He wishes it was a dream.

Link is a hero, the Hero of Legend praised six times over across all the known lands with a reputation that's sure to reach beyond. 

But he coughs. 

Bloodstained white petals and a taunting blooming hibiscus. 

He is nothing but a man whose grief transcends all bounds of time.

* * *

Life continues to run its course and Link stumbles through a portal and into the companionship of all his past, future and alternate incarnations. 

This is complete and utter bullshit. 

...but he likes their company. 

Link's shell of thorns and barbs only seems to draw them closer rather than push them away because of the stupid spirit that binds them. He thinks they're all idiots who can't take a hint. 

But his insults turn into fond banter and his lips twitch at their antics and for the first time since Koholint he truly laughs.

Yet the coughing never stops. 

White petals dotted red and a hibiscus in full bloom. 

He's had a lifetime of experience of hiding them so the other heroes are none the wiser to his affliction. 

A common spirit binds all the heroes. 

Among the smiling faces that surround him, one of them will suffer a heartbreak so devastating that it will forever be imprinted on their shared spirit. 

Three heroes came directly before him. 

The Chosen Hero. 

The Hero that Wields the Four Sword. 

The Hero of Time.

He coughs. 

Blood and tiny white petals. 

One of them will lose their beloved and their grief will resonate through their lifetime and beyond. 

* * *

Hair as red as fire. 

Laughter brighter than bells. 

A smile more radiant than the sun. 

Legend only has to take one look at Malon to know that she will die a horrible and tragic death. 

The mind may forget but the soul will always remember. 

A spirit plagued with grief has the power to force itself into the dreams of others. 

Time wraps his wife in a loving embrace and kisses her sweetly.

Legend stifles a cough before another name can escape his lips. 

The sea was far from this place and there wasn't a single horse on the island but this is the life that his soul yearned for, that his spirit dreamed of. 

_ “Strong spirited, passionate, that singing voice, and not to mention a redhead...how a grumpy guy like him ended up with such a sweet woman like her is a real mystery. So yes, I’m surprised he has good taste.”  _

Legend teases and makes bets and the other heroes are none the wiser. 

When night falls, he sneaks out, hands wrapped around his mouth. 

When he's certain that he won't be heard, he falls to his knees. 

He coughs and coughs and coughs and coughs. 

Even with no breath in his lungs he still coughs because that's what his heartbroken spirit demands. 

Green is soaked red. 

A memory not his own flashes in his mind. 

Horses scattered. Fields on fire. The ranch in ruins.

Red hair scorched by the flames. A laughter that will never be heard again. The sun's radiance forever dimmed.

He coughs. 

Pink petals coated in blood and small white flowers somehow unstained. 

Horseradish. How fitting. 


End file.
